hey, i have a 98 cl 3.0 when ever the car gets warmed to running temp. and i am driving it runs fine. but if i am sitting still at a light or stop sign or d.c. traffic the temp gauge shoots up as i am sitting there. the gauge goes all the way close to red. if i am driving it doesnt do get hot. also if i am sitting still and the temp gauge goes up and i hit the gas to rev the engine the car cools back down untill i let go of the gas again. its almost as if the water pump doesnt have enough power to circulate the coolant unless i push the gas. any ideas? clogged radiator?

 

thermostat maybe?

do this

start the car without the radiator cap on and see if the fluid goes down into the radiator, keep filing it up untill its full just to make sure. Btw dont forget 60/40 antifreeze/water mix. Straight antifreeze and straight water wont work the best.

Mostly likely your thermostat is just stuck, its an easy $10 part from autozone

 

Could be antifreeze?

 

check the fans, and read the other posts about over heating problems. there's been many of you this month for some reason.

 

im pretty sure it needs more antifreeze.

 

my friend's eclipse did this, and i'm not sure what she did to fix it, but antifreeze didn't fix it.

you could be right about the water pump. with hers though, it seemed to have something to do with the airflow, when we were driving fast it was fine, and when we slowed down the temp rose.

i say bring it in ASAP to avoid overheating and damaging your engine.

 

Airlock. A coolant flush should fix it.

The temp drops under throttle because the water - that is not circulating through the engine b/c of the airlock is cool - higher rpms on the water pump provide enough pressure to move the airlock and push that cool water into the system past the temp sensor lowering the temp.

Basically when the airlock is preventing flow you have hot water (near steam) in the engine, and cool (relatively) water in the hoses/rad. Once it flows you have cold water into your engine and hot into the rad - this is what causes the erratic temp needle.

 

Overheating Troubleshooting Guide - For those who like to read...

http://www.troubleshooters.com/tprom...005/200005.htm

 

my legend did this long time ago!

it was the thermostat that was busted

 

thanks for all the help. yep stupid easy fix. i thought the radiator was full because the over flow was filled to the max line. well it wasnt. i ran the car with out the radiator cap on and the coolant went strait down so i filled it and it took quite a bit. full radiator fixed the problem. thanks.